1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a furniture element, in particular a drawer, in which the long ends of each of two longitudinally extended, flat, structural elements form a corner, and are secured to each other by connectors that form a push connection with at least one of the structural elements.
A development of the present invention relates to a furniture element that is formed as a drawer with metal frames with the longitudinally extended structural elements, said frames incorporating supports for the bottom of the drawer and incorporating a drawer rail that forms part of a pull set for the drawer, this incorporating a hollow space that extends to the length of the frame and in which is installed a supporting and adjusting set for the front panel of the drawer that forms the connecting element, it being possible to operate the adjusting elements of this form outside the frame.
2. Prior Art
Not only drawers, but all elements in which long structural elements are to be connected at at least one corner are to be understood by furniture elements of the type described heretofore. As examples, one could mention frame or peg connectors, and the like. In so far as at least one of the two long structural elements that are to be joined are of a material that can be nailed or screwed without significant preparation, e.g., wood or chip-board panels, it is possible to use the most varied types of nail or claw connectors, as well as screws. According to U.S. Pat. No. 1,936,733, shaped sheet-metal parts are used as corner connectors for drawer walls that are of material that can be nailed; in these, angled retaining flanges engage in preformed grooves of one long structural element and can be inserted into a corner recess of the other structural element and then driven into the material of this latter structural element with claw pieces. It is not possible to automate the assembly of drawers of this kind.
The connectors that have been described, which are of plastic or metal, in particular aluminum, can no longer be used. In the case of furniture elements formed as drawers in accordance with the application described above, there is frequently a requirement that at least the front panel of the drawer be adjustable after installation. A drawer intended for a preferred application is described in EP-A-0 267 477. In this, the frames that are formed as one-piece extruded profiles form the drawer rails of the pull set with an upper profile section; beneath these, a rectangular cross section tube profile is formed from the frame, and a guide housing of the adjuster set is slid into this from the front. This can then be secured by screws that pass through the walls of the hollow profile. There are openings in the outer side of the tube profile so as to permit operation of the adjusting elements of the adjusting set. It is preferred that there be supports on the front panel that can be suspended in an adjuster of the adjuster set. The complete system entails considerable manufacturing and assembly costs.
According to DE-A-37 13 282, there is a continuous depression in the outer wall of the tube profile, at the level of the installation area for the operating openings for the adjuster elements of the adjuster set. This can be closed off by a plastic trim strip.
EP-A-0 323 822 describes a draw with an adjuster set that is secured to the outside of a frame by means of a supporting plate. By making use of eccentric adjusters and setting screws, and by using a similarly adjustable intermediate plate, this makes it possible to adjust the position of the front panel of the drawer precisely up and down, forward and backward, and to the sides, as well as its slope, although the operating elements for the adjuster set must be accessible only from outside the frame.
In the case of drawers that are made from sheet metal, it is known that the back wall of the drawer can be secured to the frame by folds that are made subsequently; this increases the amount of assembly work that has to be done. Finally, it is also known that all the essential parts of a drawer, with the exception of the fittings and adjuster sets for the front panel, is fitted, can be extruded from plastic, in which connection it is possible to either provide an inner tub or box to which the side walls, the front panel, and the drawer back can be secured, or, as described in DE-OS 26 49 787, to injection-mould a drawer bottom panel and all the side walls as moulded plastic parts that incorporate catches and notches that are moulded in or onto the parts so as to produce unreleasable snap connections with abutting side walls and the drawer bottom. When this is done, special moulds are needed for each size of bottom and walls, so that the production of such a drawer only appears reasonable if done at normal mass-production scales.